


On Hurricanes and Hair

by LiterallyThePresident



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Cultural Differences, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 10:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14542959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: Jaal and Liam hang out, swap stories, meet an adorable angara kid





	On Hurricanes and Hair

The tavetaan was slow that day, which made it perfect for Liam and Jaal’s lunch date. Liam lived for days like this, days where he and Jaal could just hang out, no world-saving required.

 

“You strike me as a man who has always been a trailblazer.” Jaal chuckled, on his third drink, “A man who changes lives wherever he steps.”

 

“Damn right I am. Did you know that I’m pretty much responsible for a parachute safety feature?” Liam grinned. Jaal chuckled a little.

 

“Why does that not surprise me?” he asked with a fond crinkle of his eyes, “May I hear the story?”

 

“Course.” Liam was always happy to oblige him, “It was when I was in crisis response, hitting the ground after disasters and shit. This time around it was in the Bermuda Triangle on Earth. I was helping save survivors of this cruise liner, and-“

 

“What is a cruise liner?” Jaal interrupted. Liam blinked, having to think for a moment. He did that a lot with Jaal, having to explain things he’d never really thought about before. It was part of what made the angara so interesting to talk to.

 

“A big boat that people pay to go on.” he finally said, “It’s a recreational thing. The boat travels around the ocean and stops at foreign ports where people can get off and have fun at. And there’s a lot of stuff to do on the boat too.”

 

“Fascinating.” Jaal said, looking... Liam could never describe the expression he got when someone described an aspect of life back home. Wistful, perhaps? A softer version of envy? Liam didn’t know. He tried to put it out of his mind.

 

“Yeah, I guess.” he shrugged, “But anyway, survivors, right? It was the middle of a hurricane, big roaring thing. And we were rappelling down from our shuttles to the people in the liferafts below. The ship was already gone, so we didn’t have to worry about that, thankfully.”

 

“Why was the ship sailing in a hurricane?” Jaal asked curiously.

 

“The Bermuda Triangle had been a mystery for a long time.” Liam explained, “Ships and planes were known to disappear in that area for centuries, and the weather had a habit of turning at the drop of a dime, so the hurricane probably came out of nowhere. We’d actually figured out recently that there was a Prothean ruin under the water there that was causing all the anomalies, but we couldn’t quite figure out how to stop them. Didn’t stop people from wanting to take on the Triangle, though.”

 

“I see.” Jaal nodded, “And the Pro-thee-ans, they were your Remnant, yes?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Liam grinned. Jaal smiled back.

 

“I am sorry to keep interrupting.” he apologized.

 

“Don’t be.” Liam waved, “Story’s no fun if you don’t know what I’m talking about, yeah? Where was I? Hurricane, ship, right, so the hurricane was in full swing, and we were grabbing people and bringing them up to the shuttles. This one bloke, he was panicking, and panicked people tend to get grabby. So he was pawing at me, and I was trying to tell him to calm down, but he was too scared.”

 

“I have seen my fair share of that.” Jaal nodded a little sadly. Liam patted his wrist sympathetically.

 

“So he’s all grabby, and somehow his hands knock on my parachute latch just right. The chute deploys, and I am literally _whipped_ away from him into the hurricane.” Liam laughed, and Jaal barked a laugh along with him.

 

“ _No!_ ” he gasped with a smile. Liam’s own smile was huge.

 

“It’s true! I was thrown around in the winds for at least ten minutes. I thought I was done for.”

 

“That mental image is both amusing and terrifying.” Jaal said.

 

“Guess I shouldn’t tell you the story of my first time on Habitat Seven.” Liam snorted, “But in this case, I was eventually blown into the sea, and that was a whole new hell.” Liam frowned a little at the memory of being cold, wet, exhausted, and scared, “Nearly drowned. If I hadn’t cut my chute away, I might’ve.”

 

“Were you rescued quickly?” an unfamiliar voice asked with concern. Liam and Jaal looked down to see a little blue anagra child standing next their table, big blue eyes openly gawking up at Liam with a mix of wonder and fear. The little thing had likely not yet seen a real life alien up close before.

 

“Yeah.” Liam smiled at them, “A buddy of mine saw what happened, and I had a locator beacon in my suit. It only took like a half an hour. Just seemed longer treading water in a stormy sea.”

 

“And then they changed the regulation on parachute latches?” Jaal guessed, lifting the kid and allowing them to settle on his lap. Liam blinked a little. Were all angara so casual about touching other people’s kids?

 

“Yeah.” he said slowly, “Now they need the biometrics of either the wearer or someone on the wearer’s assigned team.”

 

“And you were not hurt?” the kid asked sincerely.

 

“My only injury was my pride and dignity.” Liam smiled, “I never heard the end of it from my friends.” the kid giggled, and Jaal patted their head. Okay, he had to ask, “Jaal? Do you know this kid?”

 

“No.” Jaal cocked his head, “What is your name, little one?”

 

“Khivfrid.” they kid introduced themselves.

 

“Khivfrid. I am Jaal, and this is Liam.” Jaal introduced them both. The kid, Khivfrid, smiled and waved at him.

 

“It’s just...” Liam hoped he wasn’t being ignorant, “Is it normal for angara to just let their kids run around unsupervised?”

 

“Aya is safe.” Jaal frowned, “What have we to fear here?”

 

“And to just... pick up random children?” Liam asked, “Won’t their parents think we’re creepers or something?”

 

“Why would they think that?” Jaal looked honestly confused. Liam sighed. Okay then. Cultural difference.

 

“Nevermind.” he said. Jaal looked confused, but evidently decided to ask later. Khivfrid piped up in the ensuing moment of quiet.

 

“Lee-ahm, why are you wearing that hat in the tavetaan?” they asked.

 

“What hat?” Liam asked, confused.

 

“The fuzzy one.” Khivfrid elaborated, “The brown one that kind of sticks out backwards? It looks kind of like a cloud.” Liam furrowed his brow, but then it hit him what the kid was talking about.

 

“This?” he laughed pointing to his hair. The kid nodded, and Liam snorted, “It’s not a hat. It’s part of my body.”

 

“What?” their eyes went huge. Liam laughed, utterly charmed.

 

“Yeah. It’s called hair. Lots of humans have it. We’re the only species in the Milky Way who have hair. And apparently in Andromeda too.”

 

“Cool!” Khivfrid looked so excited. Liam smiled, “I like it!”

 

“From what I have seen, it serves no purpose, except to be very pretty.” Jaal winked at Liam.

 

“It takes so much maintenance.” he said, “I’m almost jealous of you lot.”

 

“I can take your hair if you don’t want it anymore!” Khivfrid said eagerly, earning an uproarious laugh from both of them.

 

“I’m afraid I’m not half as pretty without my hair.” Liam laughed, “I shaved my head once. Worst mistake of my life.” Khivfrid gasped softly, eyes going wide.

 

“You can cut it off?” they whispered, “Does it hurt?”

 

“No.” Liam assured them, “No nerves in hair. It only hurts if you yank.”

 

“I promise not to yank.” Khivfrid said quickly.

 

“I appreciate it.” Liam leaned back in his seat, “Say Jaal, I’ve been doing all the talking today. What about you, tell us a Jaal story.”

 

“Hm. Well.” Jaal grinned, “I know this hotshot alien called Liam, a good friend but something of a ‘loose cannon’, as his friends say.”

 

“Is it that Lee-ahm?” Khivfrid asked, pointing at Liam.

 

“How did you guess?” Jaal asked with convincing surprise. Khivfrid beamed.

 

“Because I’m smart!”

 

“Very smart.” Jaal nodded solemnly, “No one else could have guessed who I was talking about.”

 

“Good on you, kid.” Liam winked, earning a pleased look before they turned their attention back to Jaal.

 

“Finish the story!” Khivfrid urged, tugging on his rojfinn. Jaal smiled, eyes crinkling, and Liam had the sudden thought that Jaal would make an excellent father.

 

“Well.” Jaal began, “One time Liam dragged our friends and I on this mad rescue mission that ended up with us fighting our way through a kett ship run by a very persnickety angara...”

**Author's Note:**

> Completely unbetaed, sorry for any mistakes


End file.
